RELATIONSHIP OF SLEEP QUALITY WITH MENTAL WELL-BEING AND ACADEMIC PRODUCTIVITY

Abstract

Background: Better sleep quality is associated with better mental health. This study aimed to link sleep quality of medical students with their psychiatric health and academic performance. Methods: Sleep quality of 104 medical students (52 each from 1^st and 5^th year of MBBS with equal gender distribution) was measured on Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) while Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) along with Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) was used to assess their psychiatric health, both of which were later correlated with their academic scores. Results: Sleep quality of 1^st year medical students was significantly better as compared to their final year counterparts (p=0.001) and (p=0.000) respectively which affected indices of psychiatric health in such a way that 1^st year medical students scored significantly lower on scales of depression as well as anxiety as compared to final year medical students (p=0.001), (p=0.000) and (p=0.001, p=0.000). Within 1^st and final year (male and female) medical students, sleep quality had a strong positive correlation with scores of depression and anxiety (r=0.547, p=0.004), (r=0.587, p=0.002), (r=0.66, p=0.000) ,(r=0.490, p=0.011) and (r=0.518, p=0.007), (r=0.527, p=0.006), (r=0.541, p=0.004), (r=0.596, p=0.001) respectively, which in turn had a negative correlation with academic performance of theirs (r=-0.400, p=0.043), (r=-0.614, p=0.001) and (r=-0.550, p=0.004), (r=-0.573, p=0.002) respectively. Conclusion:  Medical students with poor sleep quality, harbour higher degrees of depression and anxiety and perform poorly on academic front as compared to those with better sleep quality.

Pak J Physiol 2023;19(3):15–9